The Battle of the Labyrinth - Through Annabeth's Eyes
by acidonix
Summary: Just the book in Annabeth's POV. Review!
1. Chapter 1

**I am soooo excited that I started an account. all my stories are going to be about PJO and HOO cause I LOVE THEM! Please review:) **

Chapter 1

Percy Ruins Everything

I, Annabeth Chase, was going on a date. Well, it wasn't really a date. It was with my best friend, Percy Jackson. He had the most gorgeous face, with deep green eyes, and raven black hair. Oh, and did I mention the six pack? I mentally slapped myself. I couldn't be thinking like this. I started pacing my room, checking the clock on the wall every thirty seconds.

From the doorway, Malcolm, my second-in-command, laughed. "Excited?"

I turned around, blushing. "Shut up." I growled.

He just shook his head, and sat on one of the bottom bunks. It creaked under his weight. "Just, you know, don't get into any trouble. We need you. Both of you."

I straightened. "Of course not."

He glanced at the clock. "It's time for you to go." He said, "Remember, stay out of trouble!" He winked, and I caught myself blushing again. I ran down Half-Blood Hill to the car that Argus was going to drive me in. I hopped in, and he took off.

(Line Break)

Just let me say one thing. Running down Madison St. in the middle of Manhattan mid-afternoon traffic, in the blazing heat of summer; is not my idea of fun. Thank god I was wearing my Camp Half-Blood T-shirt which wasn't see through. That would be embarrassing. I turned the corner and came face to face with a big brick building that said the words Goode High School Welcomes You! on a big banner out in front.

Butterflies swirled in my stomach, and I tried to flatten my hair down after it had gotten frizzy by the humidity, but it was no use. I sighed. I walked around to the back entrance, but before I could get very far, I slammed into Percy.

I laughed. "Hey you're out early!" I grabbed his shoulders to keep him from falling face first into the street. I was about to say something else, when a red headed nightmare came running out, yelling, "Percy, wait up!"

My smile melted off my now furious face. I looked at the girl, giving her one of my classic glares, and then looked up at the school, finally noticing the alarms and the lapping orange flames through the black smoke.

My mouth turned upside down, and I looked at Percy. "What did you do this time? And who is this?"

"Oh, Rachel – Annabeth. Annabeth – Rachel. She's a friend, I guess." I scowled at the word friend.

"Hi." Rachel said to me. But then she turned back to Percy.

"You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation."

"Percy." I said coldly, even though I didn't mean to sound rude. "We should go." I tried to shake the iciness out of my voice. Police sirens wailed in the distance.

"I want to know more about half-bloods." Why was she still talking? "And monsters." Half-bloods an-and monsters. He told her. He really told her. I mean, I knew he was stupid, but I didn't know _how_ stupid. "And this stuff about gods." She continued on. She grabbed his arm, and drew out a red permanent marker, and wrote her number down. "You're going to call me and explain, all right? You owe me that. Now get going."

"But-" Percy argued. Gods, why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"I'll make up some story. Tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!" She ran back into the school, leaving me and Percy alone on the street. I started walking.

"Hey!" He had to jog to catch up to me. I rolled my eyes before he got to my side. "There were these two empousai. "He tried to explain, the words spilling out of his mouth in a jumble. "They were cheerleaders, and they said camp was going to burn down, and-"

"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?" I still couldn't believe it.

"She can see through the mist. She saw the monsters before I did." Oh yay. Just one more point for Rachel.

"So you told her the truth?" I asked bewildered.

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so-"

I cut him off again. "You've met her before?"

"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her." He stumbled over his words, rying to cover up for his multiple mistakes.

"She's kinda cute." Dammit Annabeth! What kind of thing was that to say?

"I-I never thought about it." Yea, right. Whatever though. Wasn't I supposed to be happy for him, since I was his best friend? I kept walking straight.

"I'll deal with the school. Honest, it'll be fine." I forced myself not to look at him, even though all I wanted to do was run straight into his strong tan arms and never let go.

"I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, since now the police are searching for you." Behind us, somewhere inside of the high school, a cloud of black smoke went up.

"You're right." He told me. Of course I am. I'm not wisdom's daughter for nothing. "We have to get to Camp Half – Blood. Now."


	2. Chapter 2

**OK I am seriously soooooo sorry for not updating sooner. I have been so busy with school, and honestly not getting any reviews didn't really motivate me to update sooner.**

Chapter 2

The Hearing

Why wouldn't he just shut up. Clearly, I was angry. But he just kept asking me these questions. What's happening in California with Mt. Tam? Have you been back to camp since Christmas? How's Luke? (I almost punched him for this question).

I told him about how the mist was so strong up on Mt. Tam, that you could literally see the swirling cloud of white. I also told him that I had been to camp twice since Christmas.

"Why?" He asked.

I cocked my head, "It's a secret." I said, trying to hide my smirk. I immediately felt bad after he got that look on his face. It was so adorable. His eyebrows got all scrunched up and… What was I thinking? I was supposed to be mad at him.

"Any word on Luke?" He asked again.

I shook my head. Take a hint. I don't want to talk about it. "Mt. Tam is overrun with monsters. I don't think Luke is up there. I think I would know if he was."

"What about Grover?"

Grover… The poor guy. He had a hearing today, and he was about to get his searcher's license taken away. He was basically distraught about it. "He's at camp," I decided to keep it short, so I didn't have to answer any more questions. "We'll see him today."

"Did he have any luck? I mean, with the search for Pan?" My hands went up to my necklace, fingering my dad's ring.

"You'll see." Better to let him see it for himself, then for me to try to explain it.

"Can I call my mom?" He asked me.

I felt my eyes soften. "Of course." Percy's mom was awesome. A lot better than that Rachel person.

He left a message, explaining what happened, and then handed the phone back to me. We sat in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to camp.

-o0o-

I handed a roll of cash to the taxi driver, and he stopped arguing about how there was nothing there. We got out, and climbed to the top of half-blood hill. I patted Peleus on the head.

"Hey, Peleus. Keeping everything safe?" I had a soft spot for the dragon. He protected Thalia's tree, and that was enough for me to like the growing dragon.

We walked down into the valley. The camp was dotted with people, everyone sword-fighting, at canoe lessons, flying pegasus'. Stawberries glistened in the afternoon sun, satyrs playing their pipes around the edges of the garden.

"I need to talk to Clarisse." I announced. The look on Percy's face was priceless.

"What for?"

"We've been working on something. I'll see you later." We had been working on figuring out the Labyrinth. It was a dangerous piece of growing architecture. Chris Rodriguez, who had gone mad down there, (now rambling about string), was found when Clarisse went down there. She almost didn't make it back. We had to figure out why Luke wanted Ariadne's string so bad.

"Working on what?" He asked innocently.

My eyes drifted towards the forest. Grover was in there right now, his fate being decided at the hands of two idiotic satyrs.

"I'll tell Chiron you're here. He'll want to talk to you before the hearing."

"What hearing?"

I ignored him, jogging down the hills to go find Chiron.

(Line Break)

"Chrion!" I called out to him.

"Hello, my dear." He said with a grim smile. "How was the movie?"

"We didn't go. Listen, something happened." His smile disappeared, replaced by a concerned look.

"What happened?" I gave him a little debriefing on what happened at Goode. I left out the part about the mortal girl, but the part about the _dracanae_ seemed to trouble him enough.

"I see. Luke has started his planned attack. Is Percy here?"

"Yes. I thought you would want to talk to him. He doesn't know about the whole Labyrinth thing though." He just nodded.

"Very well then. I will go find him, and meet you back at the hearing." I was turning and running to the clearing before he got the last words out of his mouth.

I got there in record time. I slowed down, catching my breath. Clarisse caught my eye, and she motioned me over. Grover's girlfriend, Juniper, was there, and she didn't look happy. She was crying, her eyes tinted a dark green. I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. Soon, Percy showed up.

Clarisse muttered. "Punk," as a greeting to Percy. I rolled my eyes. They were basically friends. They just pretended to hate each other for the fun of it.

The hearing was going pretty awful. Next to me, Juniper spoke aloud my thoughts.

"This is going terribly." She said miserably, sniffling.

"No, no. He'll be fine." I patted her shoulders, trying to soothe her. I saw Percy staring and I mouthed the words Grover's girlfriend. He looked surprised, but then took a really good look at Juniper and his eyes dawned with realization. It took all my willpower not to roll my eyes.

"Master Underwood! Do you really expect us to believe this?" Silenus told him.

"B-but, sir, it's the truth." He stuttered. I hadn't been there when this had happened, but I would believe Grover any day over Silenus. Silenus conferred with his other council members.

Silenus adjusted himself on his throne. "Master Underwood, for six months – six months – we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you have heard the wild god Pan speak."

"But I did!"

"Impudence!" Maron exclaimed.

"Now, Maron." Chiron said as soothingly as he could. "Patience."

"Patience, indeed!" Maron said. "I've had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to… to _him_."

Juniper balled up her fists, an angry look appearing her eyes. My mind went a hundred miles an hour, calculating what I would do if Juniper attacked Maron, which was looking very likely at the moment. I tightened my grip on her shoulder. "Wrong fight, girlie," Clarisse muttered too her. "Wait."

"For six months," Silenus continued, "we have indulged you Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher's license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?"

"I just need more time," Grover pleaded with Silenus."

"Nothing!" Leneus decided to talk. "You have found nothing."

"But Leneus –"

Silenus raised his hand, signaling silence. Chiron leaned forward, and whispered something in his ear. The satyrs didn't look happy, arguing and muttering silently over what Chiron had said, but Chiron said something else to them, and they gave in. Silenus nodded reluctantly, sighing.

"Master Underwood." Silenus announced in a grave tone, "we will give you one more chance."

Grover's face lit up. "Thank you!"

"One more week." Grover's face fell.

"What? But sir! That's impossible!"

"One more week, Master Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something to suit your dramatic talents. Puppet theater perhaps. Or tap dancing." At this point, I was ready to go up and punch Silenus in the nose. I hadn't been there when Grover had supposedly seen a sign from Pan, and I wasn't about to tell Grover that it was most likely not Pan, but Grover was one of my best friends. I wasn't about to let this guy tell him that he should pursue a career in tap dancing.

"But sir, I-I can't lose my searcher's license. My whole life-."

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. Gods, he was a jerk. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!" I rolled my eyes. There was a reason he was fat.

Silenus clapped his hands gleefully. Nymphs melted out of trees, walking gracefully into the center of the forest, platters piled high with vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and many other goat foods. The circle of satyrs broke apart, and ran towards the food. Grover walked sadly over to us.

"Hey Percy," He said depressingly, "That went well, huh?"

"Those old goats!" Juniper shook with fury. I had to admit, her and Grover were pretty cute. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried."

"There is another option." Clarisse said. I tried not to shiver at the thought. Grover in the Labyrinth? Not a good mix.

"No. No." Juniper shook her head slightly. "Grover, I won't let you."

Grover's face paled, a light gray. "I-I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."

"What are you talking about?" Percy looked so confused. He looked so cute when he was confused, but that wasn't the point. The conch horn sounded in the distance, signaling cabin inspection.

I pursed my lips. "I'll fill you in later, Percy. We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting."

-o0o-

"Inspection is in ten minutes!" I heard my brother, Malcolm yelling at our cabin. He was my second-in-command. I bit back a small smile, and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I got this." I murmured quietly. The new campers hadn't quite gotten the daily routine yet, and Malcolm wasn't one with patience.

"Cabin six!" I called loudly. Heads swiveled, the younger ones looking up at me with awe. I didn't really get it. I mean, I was still just another demigod, just like them. "Sabrina, Thomas, and Ian. I want you guys to focus on cleaning the floor." I gave out orders quickly. "Katie, Mal, Jake and Rebecca. Organize the library. Malcolm and I will clear off the bunks." People got in their groups, and in no time, the cabin was spotless.

Silena walked gracefully into the room, a clipboard held delicately in her perfect french- manicured nails. She did a small little twirl, then a small smile appeared on her face. "Very good. Five out of…five." She marked it down. "And Annabeth." She winked. "You'll have to tell me about how yesterday went." She gave a little wave, before turning on her heel and swishing out the door. I knew I was still blushing, even after she left.

-o0o-

I tried to enjoy the time with Tyson and Percy. To be honest, I had missed Percy more than I would like to admit. I kept glancing towards the forest, the idea of an entrance to the labyrinth, straight in the middle of camp haunting me. We hadn't confirmed there was an entrance yet, but we were pretty sure. Clarisse and I, that is. Most of the rest of the camp was still oblivious to the secret me and Clarisse were working on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! (: So, if you have any suggestions for the story, please review, because I really need some good ideas for when Annabeth isn't around Percy.**

Chapter 3

The next morning at breakfast, there was a lot of excitement about the drakon that had stationed it self outside the camp. It had woken me up, but I heard that the Apollo cabin was already on it, so I didn't come out of my cabin.

"It's still out there," Lee warned us all during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The ting was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes-" Lee shuddered.

"You did well, Lee." Chiron patted his back, trying to comfort him. "Everyone stay alerts, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye." Quintus spoke up. I didn't know what to think of him. He seemed nice, but almost too nice. No, that wasn't true. He was a nice man, he just seemed… hidden. Overly protective of what he told people. Mysterious. That was the word. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

A small murmur broke out, people talking worriedly about the attack.

Everybody knew the rumors. Luke was going to invade the camp, coming straight from the heart of the camp. Nobody though, knew that Clarisse and I knew the exact way he was going to get into the camp. We just needed to know where that entrance was.

"This is a good reason for new war games." Quintus said, a scary glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes…" Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods!

Everyone raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.

The Athena cabin went to the bronze brazier, and I scraped a little bit of the cinnamon toast into the fire.

"Athena." I whispered. "Help me with Percy, and Kronos, and the Labyrinth." I headed back to my table.

I tried to decide if I should tell Percy about the Labyrinth. I thought it was the right thing to do, (and I was normally right), but Chiron seemed to think that it would only 'distress the child'. I didn't agree. Percy was our leader. He needed to know this stuff, even if it meant 'distressing him'. And I also knew that he would want to know about this. That decided it. I was going to tell him. I glanced over at his table, where Chiron and Grover were walking away from.

Then I did something so impulsive, that if Mr. D was here, I would've been killed. I slid in next to Percy. I realized I was a little close, but I wasn't going to back away now.

"I'll tell you what it's about." I said. "The Labyrinth."

People kept stealing glances over at us, but I didn't care. They could think whatever they wanted to. I know what most people were thinking, something along the lines of 'oh look, its Percy and Annabeth! Aren't they the cutest, breaking the rules just so they can sit next to each other.'. Which was totally not what was happening.

"You're not supposed to be here." He pointed out. No, duh.

"We need to talk." I insisted. Ok, maybe I was _really_ close to him. Like bodies touching close. And I just couldn't help but think about that.

"But the rules…" I knew about the rules. Did he think I was stupid? Quintus looked over at us, and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Probably because Percy and I had more credibility at this camp then he ever would.

"Look." I said. "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."

Percy shifted his weight, accidentally or on purpose, moving closer to me. I mean, he was right there. I was practically sitting on him. Oh my gods, stupid girl hormones. I tried to ignore them. "you mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?"

"Exactly. "I said.

"So…it's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore." He guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

I rolled my eyes. Was he really that dumb? "Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building."

"So… is the Labyrinth part of the underworld?" He asked.

"No." I frowned, not knowing if it was or not. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth to the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere through the Labyrinth."

"If you don't get lost." Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death." I shot him a look.

"Grover, there has to be a way." I was desperate to get him to go. He still hadn't found Pan, and I just had this feeling that if he went down into the Labyrinth, he would find something. "Clarisse lived."

"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy-" I cut him off. We were not talking about him right now.

"He was driven insane. He didn't die."

"Oh joy. That makes me feel much better." I almost laughed.

"Whoa." Percy said. "Back up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy." I could feel Clarisse's brown eyes staring at the scene Percy and I were causing.

"Last year." I lowered my voice, not wanting anyone else to hear. "Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron."

"I remember. It was secret." I nodded. I was the only one who had known about it.

"It was secret." I agreed. "because she found Chris Rodriguez."

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?"

"Yeah." I said. "Last year, he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."

"What do you mean he just appeared?"

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."

"String." Percy said.

"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him: Luke's men have been  
>exploring the Labyrinth."<p>

Percy shivered at my answer, and Grover finished his fork, chomping down loudly on the last piece.

"Okay." Percy said. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

"We weren't sure," I said. "That's why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because... Well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved-the builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"Except it's a maze, right?"

"Full of horrible traps." Grover said. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string," I said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," Percy said. "Why? What's he planning?"

I shook my head "I don't know. I thought maybe he wanted to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get past our borders. Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but... It was very dangerous. She had some close calls. I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."

"You think Pan is underground?" Percy blinked.

"It would explain why he's been impossible to find."

Grover shuddered. "Satyr's hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"

"But," I said. "the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work for you-"

"It could lead you to the wild god." Percy said. Finally, he had caught on.

"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware."

"Grover, it may be your last chance." I pleaded with him. I had been trying to convince him of this for a long time. "The council is serious. One week or you learn to tap dance."

Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. He hadn't been here long enough to enforce the rules, but he knew that I had been over at Percy's table too long.

"We'll talk later." I squeezed Percy's arm. "Convince him, will you?" I returned to my table, ignoring the looks I was getting.

**That part was actually my favorite part from the book, so I'm really glad I got to write it (:**

**Anyway, I'm thinking about starting a new story, because this story is fun, but I want to do one more original. So if you guys have any ideas, I would love to hear them. Of course, it has to have some Percabeth in it, but other than that, I'm open to different ideas.**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I have a free day today, since I'm sitting on my couch at home, sick. So I decided to update (:**

**And OMG I got 155 views. *claps and cheers* Thank you guys soooo much.**

**I finally decided what my new story is going to be about! So it's going to (obviously) have Percabeth. Annabeth is going to be OOC also. Summary:**

**It was cold. So cold, so dark. Inside her head, her thoughts surrounded her, the urge to do it was getting more and more intense. And that day she picked up the sharp knife she had been hiding under her pillow, her life changed forever.**

**You guys should check it out, cause I feel like it's going to be good. (:**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

After dinner was over, Quintus announced that we were going to play a 'game'. We got our armor on, and I wasn't looking forward to whatever he had planned.

"Right." Quintus stood up on the head table. "Gather 'round." His gray hair shone in the pale moonlight, making a ghostly shadow appear on the side of the wall.

"You will be in teams of two." As soon as he said that, chatter broke out between campers, each kid trying to get with his/her friend. I started to glance at Percy, because we always did this kind of stuff together, but Quintus interrupted the talking. "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWW!" Everybody complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course... You will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive." The crowd murmured excitedly. It sounded easy enough, as long as I had the right partner.

"I will now announce your partners." Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining." He produced a big scroll from his pocket, and rattled off names.

"Silena Bearaugard with Charles Beckendorf." Silena probably requested that one.

"Travis with Connor Stoll."

"Clarisse La Rue with Lee Fletcher."

"Katie Gardner with Lacy Moore."

"Percy Jackson with Annabeth Chase." Percy grinned at me, which was pretty cute.

"Nice."

"Your armor is crooked." Dammit Annabeth, what is wrong with you? I started to redo his straps. There wasn't even anything wrong with his straps. Why couldn't I just act normal around him?

"Grover Underwood with Tyson."

Grover jumped at the sound of his name. "What? B-but-"

"No, no." Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy-"

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare."

Tyson and Grover both looked at Percy pleadingly. He gave them an encouraging nod.

"They'll be fine." I said. "Come on, lets worry about how we're going to stay alive."

**I'm really sorry, I have to stop there guys! ): I will update soon, I promise. The next part will be about them finding the Labyrinth.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! I'm back (: **

**Nothing is Ever the Same was a HUGE SUCCESS! I got 7 reviews in two chapters! **

Chapter 5

It was still light when we got into the woods, shadows from the trees casting over us like looming monsters. We found animal prints almost immediately.

We jumped over the creek, and heard some twigs snapping. We hid behind a boulder, but it was only the Stoll brothers.

We went deeper into the west part of the woods where monsters were more frequent. We got to a ledge right above a marshy pond when I realized something. I tensed. "This is where we stopped looking."

I could see him thinking. Last year, Nico di Angelo had gone missing. We had been searching for him through the woods, but had given up at this exact point. Percy had seemed pretty upset over it.

"I saw him last night." He said.

"What do you mean?" I knit my eyebrows in confusion.

He told me about the Iris-message. I stared into the shadows of the woods, thinking of all the demigods who had died out there. It wasn't fair. You train and train, just to be killed, and the training at that point wasn't even worth it. I sometimes wondered how demigods even found a purpose in life. "He's summoning the dead?" I said. "That's not good."

"The ghost was giving him bad advice." Percy said. "Telling him to take revenge."

"Yeah… spirits are never good advisers. They've got there own agendas. Old grudges. And they resent the living."

"He's going to come after me." He said. "The spirit mentioned a maze." As serious as this conversation was, I was glad we had been chosen to be partners. We hadn't had a lot of time to talk just the two of us.

I nodded. "That settles it. We _have _to figure out the Labyrinth."

"Maybe." He said uncomfortably. "But who sent the Iris-message? If Nico didn't know I was there-"

A branch snapped somewhere from back inside the west woods. Leaves rustled, and something large moved in the trees, just beyond the ledge.

"That's not the Stoll brothers." I whispered.

Together, we drew out our swords.

-o0o-

We got to Zeus' fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the woods. Usually, campers gathered around here to rendezvous on a mission, but it was unusually quiet.

"Over there." I said quietly.

"No, wait." He whispered. "Behind us." Scuttling came from all around us, and I realized there was more than one. We circled the boulders when a small voice said.

"Hi."

We whirled around and Juniper yelped, our swords inches from her throat.

"Put those down!" She exclaimed. "Dryads don't like sharp blades, okay?"

"Juniper." I exhaled. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

Percy lowered his sword a little bit. "In the boulders?"

She pointed to the edge of the clearing. "In the Juniper. Duh. Are you guys busy?" She asked.

"Well," Percy said. "we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we're trying not to die."

"We're not busy." I said. I shot Percy a look, but he didn't notice. "What's wrong, Juniper?"

Juniper sniffled. She wiped her green sleeve under her eyes. "It's Grover. He seems so distraught. All year he's been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, it's worse. I thought maybe at first, he was seeing another tree."

"No," I said, trying not to laugh. "I'm sure that's not it."

"He had a crush on a blueberry tree once." She said miserably.

"Juniper. "I said. "Grover would never even _look_ at another tree. He's just stressed out about his searcher's license."

"He can't go underground!" Juniper protested. "You can't let him."

I looked around uncomfortably. "It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start."

"Ah," Juniper said. "About that…" She wiped a green tear off her cheek.

Another rustle in the woods, and Juniper yelled. "Hide!"

She went _poof_ in a matter of seconds, and Percy and I turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening, dark orange insect, ten feet long, with sharp, jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as our swords. A scorpion. A red silk package was tied to its back.

"One of us gets behind it." I said, as the thing moved forward. "Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front."

"I'll take point." He said. "You've got the invisibility hat."

I nodded. We had fought together so many times, we knew each others moves. We could do this, easy. But it all went wrong when the other two scorpions scuttled into the clearing.

"_Three?"_ I said. "That's not possible! The whole woods, and half the monsters come after us?"

I calmed myself down, using a breathing exercise. One, we could do with ease. But two and even more… three? It wasn't going to happen. The scorpions came at us, whipping their tails around. We put our backs against the nearest boulder.

"Climb?" Percy asked.

"No time."

The scorpions were so close, I could see foam bubbling out of their mouths, the taste of a yummy demigod meal sitting on their tongues.

"Look out!" I parried away a stinger before it could hit Percy. He stabbed with his sword, but the scorpion wisely moved back. We moved sideways along the boulders. We could only defend, since going on offense was dangerous. If we let down our guard for only a second, we would both be scorpion meal. They would probably fight over who got to eat us.

"In here." Percy said.

I sliced at a scorpion, and looked at Percy like he was crazy. "_In there? _It's too narrow."

"I'll cover you. Go!"

I ducked behind him, and squeezed through the boulders. Suddenly, I was falling. I grabbed onto the straps of Percy's armor and pulled him down with me. We tumbled into a pit, the purple evening sky gleaming above us. Then the ground shut, closing us in.

Our breathing echoed against the cold stone. We were sitting on a bumpy floor made of bricks. Percy lifted Riptide, giving off a faint glow of light.

"Wh-where are we?" I said, my voice shaking with fear.

"Safe from scorpions, anyway." He tried to sound calm, and I had to smile at that. He was trying to make me feel better, probably seeing the look on my face.

"It's a long room." He said. And I realized where we were.

The Labyrinth.

I gripped Percy's arm. "It's not a room. It's a corridor."

Percy started forward, but I stopped him. My heart beat faster, the dawning realization of what we had found. "Don't take another step. We need to find the exit-" I sounded really scared.

"It's okay." He promised. But it wasn't. "It's right-." He looked up, and found the ceiling to be closed in. It looked like nothing could get through that.

I slipped my hand into his. Usually, I would never do something like this, but he was a comforting presence. Unfortunately, my girl hormones decided to act up, and I willed myself not to hyperventilate that I was holding his hand.

I made myself think. "Two steps back." I advised.

We stepped backwards together, hand in hand.

"Okay." I said. "Help me examine the walls."

"What for?"

"The mark of Daedalus."

"Uh, okay. What kind of-" Of course he didn't know. My finger found a scratch on the wall, in the shape of a triangle.

"Got it!" I said with relief, and pressed my hand against the symbol, which began to glow blue.

The roof slid open, and we saw night sky, ablaze with bright stars. I took my hand out of his, and we started to climb.

-o0o-

We walked around the rocks and ran straight into Clarisse.

"Where have you two been?" She demanded. I sighed. I didn't really want to talk about it in front of everybody. "We've been looking forever."

"But we were only gone for a few minutes." Percy said. I almost laughed at his knowledge of the Labyrinth. It was pathetic.

Chiron trotted over, along with Grover and Tyson.

"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are ok?"

"We're fine." He said. "We fell in a hole." Sometimes, I wished Percy just wouldn't talk. The others looked at him doubtfully, then looked at me.

"Honest!" He said. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute." Gods, for his own good he should just be quiet.

"You've been missing for almost an hour." Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah." Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson whined, and then sneezed.

Clarisse had the gold laurels sitting on her head, but she didn't even brag about them. She was to worried about what Percy and I had found. "A hole?" She said suspiciously.

I took a deep breath, looking around at the other campers. This was going to be hard. Half of these people didn't even know what Clarisse and I had been trying to discover. My hands flew up to my camp necklace, fiddling with the college ring my father gave me when I was young. "Chiron… maybe we should talk about this in the Big House."

Clarisse gaped. "You found it, didn't you?"

I bit my lip. "I-Yeah. Yeah, we did."

Campers started throwing questions at me, confused.

Chiron raised his hand. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared past me, looking at the boulders, suddenly realizing they were dangerous. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past."

Campers drifted off to their cabins, murmurs of complaints were heard throughout the crowd.

"This explains a lot." Clarisse said, when most of the campers had left. "It explains what Luke is after."

"Wait a second." Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

I turned towards him, my eyes burning with dark worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of camp."

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My night was uneventful, with no dreams bothering me. Chiron had insisted that we get some sleep before we talked about it. He said something about things will be clearer in the morning or some crap like that. Whatever. Chiron called a war council this morning before breakfast. I got there early, along with Clarisse. There were bagels and cream cheese for us, but I wasn't hungry. Clarisse, on the other hand, ate three bagels before everyone showed up.

Soon, at around seven, everyone showed up. Chiron and Quintus sat at the front of the table with me and Clarisse. Most of the head counselors were there, along with Argus. If Chiron had wanted Argus to join us, I knew he must think this was serious. Percy took his spot next to me, with the other counselors going in order of seniority. Percy hadn't been here the longest but he had definitely earned a spot by the front of the table. Everyone started eating breakfast as they listened to me talk.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance." I said, trying to hide the pride there was in my voice. Even after everything he had done, he still managed to amaze me. "He knew everything about camp."  
>"That's what I was trying to tell you last night." Juniper spoke up. "The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."<p>

Silena frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance and you didn't say anything?"

Juniper blushed green in embarrassment. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste." Grover cut in.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except… well, it was Luke." She blushed deeper.

Grover grumbled. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"Interesting." Quintus said. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?" He set down the sword he had been polishing.

"Definitely." Clarisse said. "If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of our woods without having to get through our boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance. He could wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."

"He's been sending scouts into the maze." I said. "We know because… because we found one."eHeehdjsf

"Chris Rodriguez." Chiron said. He looked at Quintus.

"Ah." Quintus said. "The one in the… yes, I understand." I rolled my eyes. This Quintus guy was getting on my nerves.

"The one in the what?" Percy asked. I wished he hadn't. It was a sensitive subject with Clarisse. For some reason, she had decided to take Chris under her wing to help him get better, but he wasn't improving.

Clarisse glared at him. "The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus' workshop."

"The guy who created the maze." Percy said.

I nodded impressed that he knew. "Yes. The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Luke wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing his army in the maze's traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted – quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then… to Olympus." The arena was silent except for Ms. O'Leary and her toy.

Finally, Beckendorf spoke up. "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said convince Daedalus. Isn't he dead?"

"I would hope so." Quintus said. "He lived what, like three thousand years ago? And even if he were alive, the old stories say he fled the Labyrinth." Something about the way he said that bothered me. It sounded like he had written the stories himself.

Chiron bounced on his hooves. "That's the problem, my dear Quintus. No one knows. There are many rumors… well, many disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth when he was close to his death. He might still be down there."

It was quiet again. "We need to go in." I announced, trying to sound confident. "We have to find the workshop before Luke does. If Daedalus is still alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. If Ariadne's string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Luke's hands."

"Wait a second." Percy said. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?

"Great idea!" Grover said. "I'll get the dynamite." I tried hard not to roll my eyes at my friends.

"It's not that easy, stupid." Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance in Phoenix. Didn't go so well."

I nodded. "The Labyrinth is magical architecture, Percy. It would take huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the maze entrance just shifted a few feet. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning to navigate the Labyrinth."

"We could fight." Lee said. "We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with bows."

"We will certainly set up defenses." Chiron agreed. "But I fear Clarisse is right. The magical borders have kept this camp safe for hundreds of years. If Luke manages to get a large army of monsters into the center of camp, bypassing our boundaries… we may not have the strength to defeat them."

Everybody looked worried. Chiron usually tried to lift our spirits, not drag them down by telling us we probably wouldn't be able to defeat an army.

"We have to get to Daedalus' workshop first." I insisted, trying to bring everyone's thoughts back to a solution. "Find Ariadne's string and prevent Luke from using it.

"But if nobody can navigate in there," Percy said. "what chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years." I said, trying to sound confident. "I know Daedalus' Labyrinth better than anybody.

"From reading about it."

"Well, yes." I couldn't believe he was challenging me about this.

"That's not enough."

"It has to be!" I had the sudden urge to punch him.

"It isn't!"

"Are you going to help me or not." Everyone was watching us like we were a movie and they wished they had some popcorn to go along with it. Percy realized this and didn't say anything back. The last thing I needed was another between us.

Chiron cleared his throat uncomfortably. "First things first. We need a quest. Someone must enter the Labyrinth, find the workshop and stop Luke from learning how to navigate the maze."

"We all know who should lead this." Clarisse said. "Annabeth." There were murmurs of agreement, but I felt uncomfortable. What if I didn't succeed?

"You've done as much as I have, Clarisse." I said. "You should go too."  
>She shook her head. "I'm not going back in there."<br>Travis laughed, and I shot him a look. "Don't tell me you're scared. Clarisse, chicken?"

Clarisse got to her feet. I thought she was going to punch him, but instead she said, "You don't understand anything, punk. I'm never going in there again. Never!" She stormed out.

"I didn't mean to-" Travis said, embarrassed.

Chiron raised his hand for silence. "The poor girl has had a difficult year. Now, do we have an agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?"

Everyone nodded except Quintus, but I tried not to think much of it.

"Very well." Chiron turned to Annabeth. "My dear, it's your time to visit the Oracle. Assuming you return in one piece, we shall discuss what to do next." With that, I walked off to decide my fate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys! So I have decided the update plan is going to be once a week, sometime over the weekend probably Friday or Saturday. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long I have had a lot of personal things going on. But, I'm back now and I will start updating regularly.**

Chapter 7

"Umm, hey Oracle." I kind of waved, nervously approaching her. She didn't say anything. I touched the love scarf that Percy and I had collected on our first quest together. It calmed me, and reminded me that he was down there waiting for me. My steps quickened.

I was now only a foot away from the Oracle. "Oh Oracle, show me the prophecy.  
>I said. Her dead eyes started to glow green. Her body sat up straight and she started to talk, her mouth spewing green smoke.<p>

_You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze_

_The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise_

_You shall rise and fall by the ghost king's hand_

_The child of Athena's final stand_

_Destroy with a hero's final breath_

_And lose a love to worse than death_

Her eyes sunk back into her head, and she slumped back down again in her chair. It was like watching someone get the life sucked out of her. I thought about the prophecy. _Child of Athena's final stand. _That didn't have to mean me. Daedalus was a child of Athena and that's who we're going after anyway.

_And lose a love to worse than death. _That was the line that bothered me. It could be any of my friends. Percy, or maybe Grover. Before I knew it, I was crying on the floor of the attic. At that moment, all I could think about was losing Percy. It was like my mind was against me. I saw image after image of what my life would be like if he was gone or dead. All of them felt… empty.

I stood up, trying to pull myself together. The clock said I had been up here for almost two hours. Everyone would be wondering where I was. I opened the trap door, and headed outside, trying my best to ignore the pleas of Clarisse with Chris.

-o0o-

"My dear." Chiron said. "You made it."

I sat down on a bench and tried not to make eye contact with Percy. I was afraid I would cry again.

"Well?" Quintus asked, which annoyed me. I didn't know him, and he didn't know me so he shouldn't be pushing me like a friend would.

My eyes betrayed me and I glanced over at Percy who smiled slightly as if saying good luck. Then, I looked back at Quintus, on purpose, to answer his question. "I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus and stop Luke." I looked back down at the ground.

Chiron shifted uncomfortably. "My dear, what did the prophecy say exactly? The wording is important."

I kept staring at the ground. "I, ah… well, it said, _you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze." _I paused, not wanting to go on. "_The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."_

"The Lost One!" Grover exclaimed. "That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor." Percy added. "Not so great."

"And?" Chiron said. "What is the rest?"

I sighed. "_You shall rise and fall by the ghost king's hand. The child of Athena's final stand."_

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. I knew what they were thinking. I was a child of Athena, so this would be my final stand. I wasn't too worried about it though, honestly.

"Hey… we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena out there."

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked. No one answered.

"The prophecy does not sound complete." Chiron said. "Are there more lines?"

"I don't remember exactly." I knew no one was going to believe that. If Percy had said he didn't remember a prophecy, no one would have thought twice about it. But, I was a daughter of Athena, and known for my memory. Chiron raised an eyebrow.

I shifted uncomfortably on my bench. "Something about… _Destroy with a hero's final breath._"

"And?" Chiron asked. I wish he would stop. It was clear I didn't want to talk about it.

I stood up, refusing to say the last line. I couldn't let people see me as weak, especially right before a quest that I was leading. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Luke. And… I need help." I turned to Percy. "Will you come?"

He didn't hesitate. "I'm in."

I smiled genuinely for the first time in a while. "Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting."

Grover had forgotten how much he hated the underground. The lost one line had really gotten to him. "I'll bring extra recyclables for snacks!"

"And Tyson." I said, taking a deep breath. I knew that this broke all of the Ancient Laws, but I didn't care. It felt right. "I'll need you too."

"Yay! Blow things up time!" Tyson's clapping was so loud that he woke up Ms. O'Leary who was sleeping a mile away.

"Wait, Annabeth." Chiron held up a hand. "This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions."

"I need them all." I insisted. "Chiron, it's important.

"Annabeth. Consider well." He said. "You would be breaking the ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Last winter, five went on a quest to save Artemis. Only three came back. Think on that. Three is a sacred number. There are three Fates, three Furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good strong number that stands against many dangers. Four… this is risky." He sounded very unsure of my judgement, which I didn't like, but I stood my ground.

"I know." I said. "But we have to. Pleas."

Chiron sighed. "Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth."

The council started to disperse. I looked around for Percy, but he was being taken away by Quintus. We would talk later.

-o0o-

I pulled out all the maps I had of the Labyrinth. None of them were very helpful and the stories never agreed with each other. I went over to Malcolm's desk and started rifling through some of his scrolls. Nothing helpful there. I went back over to mine and picked up the book of Daedalus.

"Knock knock?" Someone said. I jumped and turned around.

"Oh… hi. I didn't hear you." I said. It was just Percy.

"You okay?" He asked.

I frowned at the scroll in my hands. "Just trying to do some research. Daedalus' Labyrinth is so huge. None of the stories agree about anything. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere." For some reason, I felt like crying.

"We'll figure it out." He promised, but I wasn't so sure. For some reason, I started to feel self-conscious. My hair was tangled and I had dirt all over my face. I was sure it wasn't my prettiest moment.

"I've wanted to lead a quest since I was seven." I blurted out.

"You're going to do awesome." He said, sounding so sure of it I almost believed him.

I looked up from my scrolls at him, smiling gratefully. "I'm worried Percy. Maybe I shouldn't have asked you to do this. Or Grover and Tyson." The prophecy nagged at the back of my mind.

"Hey, we're your friends. We wouldn't miss it."

"But…" I stopped myself. I wanted to tell him, but I was afraid it would make things worse.

"What is it?" He asked. "The prophecy?"

"I'm sure it's fine." I said, quietly.

"What was the last line?"

Then, I did something really impulsive. I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and put out my arms. He stepped forward and hugged me. He smelled like a summer ocean day. He was warm and I was shivering.

"Chiron might be right." I muttered into his shirt. "I'm breaking the rules. But I don't know what else to do. I need you three. It just feels right."

"Then don't worry about it." I could feel his breath on my head, slightly blowing my hair. "We've had plenty of problems before, and we solved them."

"This is different. I don't want anything to happen to… any of you." _You. _I thought secretly. It wasn't that I didn't care or even love Tyson and Grover. It was just that when it came to my life, I felt like literally could not live without Percy. Thinking about it left a huge gaping hole in my stomach. I hugged him tighter enjoying the warmth, trying not to think about how this might last and only time I get to do this.

Behind Percy, one of brothers cleared his throat. I stepped away from Percy slightly, and saw Malcolm, his face bright red. For some reason I wasn't embarrassed.

"Um, sorry." He said. "Archery practice is starting, Annabeth. Chiron sent me to get you." Percy stepped farther away from me and I immediately missed him.

"We were just looking at maps." Percy said, and I smiled. It was nice to hear him acting like a seaweed brain again.

"Okay." Malcolm looked at him stupidly.

"Tell Chiron I'll be right there." I said. Malcolm basically ran out the door.

I rubbed the tears out of my eyes. "You should go Percy. I'd better get ready for archery."

He nodded. "Annabeth? About your prophecy. The line about a hero's last breath –"

"You're wondering which hero? I don't know."

"No, something else. I was thinking the last line usually rhymes with the one before it. Was it something about – did it end in the word death?"

I looked back down at my scrolls. "You should really get going. Their waiting for me at archery." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he left without another word. I started putting my armor on.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi! I'm back. So, I've actually just decided to update whenever I feel like it. At the most, the time you'll have to wait is a week. Also, if there are any ideas you have about what Annabeth could be doing while away from Percy and his storyline, PLEASE review and tell me about them. I would love to hear your ideas and put them in the story (if possible) Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

It was about an hour before dinner started, and archery had just ended. My cabin had free time right now, so everybody was hanging out with friends, walking on the beach or just doing normal things. I had decided to stay back, but I was kind of regretting that decision. The more I was alone, the more I thought about the prophecy. I thought about finding Percy, but it seemed silly to go running after him again right after we had just seen each other. I also thought about going to talk to Silena, but she would just want to talk about my relationship with Percy. I wasn't really in the mood to think about that right now.

I set down my maps and laid down on the bed. I didn't feel tired, but I was asleep in seconds. Of course, that's when the dreams hit.

-o0o-

I was standing in a huge corridor. The light was dim and a slow trickle of water could be heard from one of the other hallways. The Labyrinth. Suddenly, I heard voices. I looked around for someplace to hide, but the hall was long and empty. I pressed myself up against the wall and hoped that my dream concealed me. As they got closer, I could hear what they were saying.

"We've been down here for eight days, Zeke." A girl said. I remembered Zeke. He was a child of Ares. I'm pretty sure he was only there my first year though. I had just assumed he had died. "That is probably like a month in the real world!" The girl sounded whiny.

"Amanda, I know." I knew Amanda too. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, and she had only been at camp my first year also. The two of them had had a "thing" that summer, but no one ever saw them again. "We just have to think of our quest. Think of why we are doing this. Why did we go to Kronos?"

"Because of the gods." She muttered. "They were making me so angry, but Luke is making me just as mad." They came into my view then, and I could tell I was right about the demigods. They were flanked on either side by two empousai.

"We just have to stick it out, Amanda. Things will get better when we win this war." It sounded like this wasn't the first time he had tried to convince her of this. They started to walk down my hall.

"Yea, I know." She didn't sound so sure.

"I heard that the demigods from camp are sending a quest down here to stop us." He said.

"Luke wants to meet up with us down here so he can be here to watch them die. He says this will be our greatest victory yet. He's set up a trap."

"And it will be. Killing Percy Jackson before he even has a chance to save the world." The girl laughed manically. The boy was about to respond when an empousai tapped him on the shoulder.

"A demigod is here." She hissed.

"Where?" Zeke whirled around wildly.

"Right… here." Both empousai sniffed the air. Then, one of them stuck a finger out at me. I shook, and went for my knife, but it wasn't there. I didn't fall asleep with it on me.

The demigods looked at each other, then charged. I woke up panting, their swords centimeters away from my throat.

-o0o-

"Hey! You're awake." Malcolm said. I could feel cold sweat dripping down the nape of my neck. "I was going to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful." I fought back a laugh. If only he knew what I had just seen. I was going to tell him when my sister, Isabella, walked in.

"Hey." She said. "Chiron just told me to tell you to meet by Zeus' fist in half an hour. You better start packing."

"Yea, I will. You should go, Malcolm. Get everyone to breakfast." I said.

"I know." He leaned down and gave me a hug. "Just in case this is the last time I talk to you before you go, good luck."

I smiled. "Thanks Mal. Love you." He waved, and walked out the door. I grabbed my black Nike drawstring bag. I filled it with a magic always filled water bottle and three boxes of protein bars. I usually would just bring two, but I had learned over the years that Percy ate a lot. He ended up asking for mine, so I needed backup. I slid my knife into my shoe and zipped up my jacket. My hair was in a high pony, and it was probably going to stay like that for the whole time. In my opinion, the worst part about going on quests (besides dying) was not being able to shower. I added in a bedroll, nectar and ambrosia. The bags were magic, so it could hold lots of things. It had a limit, but so far I hadn't found it. I also put in another pair of grey leggings and a sweatshirt.

I looked ready, but I didn't feel ready. I was a wreck inside. I really just wanted another hug from Percy, but that wasn't going to happen before we left. Besides, the last thing I needed to focus on right now was whether or not I was going to have a moment alone with him. I sighed, straightened my jacket, and walked out to meet my friends.

-o0o-

Grover was the only other one there, along with all the campers. They had grabbed a quick breakfast and then come to see us off. We were going to have to eat something in the maze. I sat down on the ground, the grass soft. I was going through my bag again, when Percy showed up.

I frowned. "Percy, you look terrible."

"He killed the water fountain last night." Tyson said, in his deep voice.

"What?" I asked. Percy had a water fountain in his cabin, but he couldn't have literally killed it. Before Percy could respond, Chiron came over. He looked like he was trying to stay upbeat, but he really just had a painful grimace on his face.

"Well, it appears you are ready!" He said. I busied myself with my pack again.

"Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor for while I'm gone?" Percy said.

"Of course, son." He said.

"Be right back, guys." Percy walked off into the woods with Chiron following in pursuit. I just rolled my eyes. Nice of him to leave right before we left.

I walked over to my family.


End file.
